Entrepreneurship, of entrepreneurship and what it means to

Entrepreneurship, as a commonly accepted concept, is
something that has been widely known about for generations, after first being
introduced by Richard Cantillon in 1730. However, when we start to analyse the
concept in more detail, we find there are many different definitions of
entrepreneurship and what it means to be an entrepreneur. During this essay, we
will review the differences in the Economic schools of thought centred around
entrepreneurship and also how entrepreneurship has contributed to economic
development. In addition, by looking at influential figures, we’ll discuss
whether innovation is central to entrepreneurship and review how they fit into
different schools of thought.

It is widely thought that the term entrepreneur was first
introduced and used by Jean-Baptiste Say in 1803, however in his book Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général
(‘Essay on the Nature of Trade in General’) in 1755, Richard Cantillon was
the first person to introduce this term.

We Will Write a Custom Essay Specifically
For You For Only $13.90/page!

order now

Within the text, Cantillon writes that there is a clear
split within society of those who are fixed-income earners working for others
on some form of salary and those who are not. The latter, called entrepreneurs
were said to “bear the risk of fixed
costs of production and uncertain selling prices” (Rothbard, 2006, p. 351) implying that unlike
those who work for others, entrepreneurs are greater financial risk takers and
are likely to be owners of, or investors in, businesses. In addition,
contrasting to later theories of entrepreneurship, which will be discussed
later, Cantillon suggested that entrepreneurs brought equilibrium by being able
to correctly predict different consumer preferences.

This suggests that to have entrepreneurship one must be
willing to take a financial risk in order to gain profit. There are many
examples of this, with investment being seen as a risk to take with a start-up
company.  For example, in its first
conception, in 2004, Peter Thiel invested over $500,000 into Facebook. This was
seen as a huge financial risk due to the relatively new industry that Facebook
was entering. In 2012, he sold the remaining 20 million, out of 44 million
shares, cashing out just over $1 billion (Cowley, 2012).

Jean Baptiste Say, a French school of thought economist,
built upon the work of Cantillon.  He
described entrepreneurship in the following way. “The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower
productivity and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield” (Extra, 2009). He argues that
merely creating a better supply does not guarantee an increased demand level –
especially if you bring things to the market that no one values.

Say looked at different characteristics of an entrepreneur,
and most notably wrote that administration and resource coordination were key
skills for entrepreneurs and that they use sound judgement to “buy materials, collect labourers and find
consumers” (Robert F. Hébert, 1888, p. 38). The French school
of thought suggests that management and resource acquisition take priority over

With its factor of production management and coordination,
Amazon is the front-runner in the e-commerce industry and shows how Say’s
theory of entrepreneurship works in practice. With an intense management
structure and high productivity with regards to its allocation of goods and
service, Amazon is the fourth most valuable public company in the world (Encyclopedia, 2017). This suggests that
using resources efficiently and intelligently is central to entrepreneurial

Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1934), classed as the
German-Austrian school of thought, went against existing views surrounding
entrepreneurship as being a risk-bearer and a manager of a company – instead
choosing to describe an entrepreneur as someone who tried to destroy
commonality within a market, by introducing a game-changing product or service
to an industry – characterised by Radical Innovation. Schumpeter derived this
idea from Marxist thought suggesting that it was the innovative entry by
entrepreneurs that caused and sustained economic growth, acting as a disruptive
force, even if that meant extinguishing the value of already established firms.
The suggested idea of radical innovation in a market causes cycles of “creative destruction” (Schumpeter,
1994, p. 83),
within his earlier theory branded an entrepreneur as an innovator who is able
to “act with confidence beyond the range
of familiar beacons” (Schumpeter, 1994, p. 132). In short, this
suggests that entrepreneurs are way-makers who drive the economy forward, they
push passed familiarity. In order to go beyond the status quo, one may suggest
that innovation is an essential driver of economic growth.

This form of innovation can benefit the original status quo,
for example when steam-powered ships were first introduced to the market,
sailing ships developed more in the next 50 years than they had in the previous
300 years. This concept could also be categorised as non-acceptance and
emphasises that many markets fight back trying to stop radical innovation from
destroying normality. However, the market will eventually adapt, causing the
new improvements in the market to take over.

One example of a piece of radical innovation was the Apple
iPod in 2001. It was a product that changed the face of the portable music
industry allowing millions of consumers access to the ever-growing music scene
(with over 420 million sales between 2006 and 2014 alone (Statista, 2014)). Steve Jobs was hailed as being one of
the greatest modern-day entrepreneurs, with his ruthlessness and immense
clarity about what he sought to achieve.

Israel Kirzner (1973) offered a slightly different view of
innovation in entrepreneurship – suggesting that an entrepreneur is someone who
discovers previously unnoticed profit opportunities, rather than someone who
purely innovates. They stay within the market until the level of competition
experienced reduces the profit opportunity. This idea contrasts with other
Economist’s views suggesting that it is the ability to see a gap in the market
and execute a vision in order to maximise profit. In addition, he also stated
that alertness was fundamental to entrepreneurship, allowing an individual to
react to market changes quickly. Within the market, however, there is
asymmetric information, therefore, the level of knowledge an individual has
will dictate the “detection and
exploitation of opportunities” (Lechner, 2016).

Amazon can also be described as entrepreneurship through
innovation as, without the idea for an e-commerce site, Amazon would not have
been created. However, without the production management and coordination, it
would not have been as successful. Therefore, innovation was the initial
entrepreneurial step, but, resource management has ensured its long-term

One of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 21st Century is
Elon Musk – founder of SpaceX and Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc has a large vision of
changing the whole automobile industry with the introduction of electric cars,
a radical worldwide change. Elon started with a small start-up company and
recognised that in order to change the way that people drive, there needed to
be incremental innovation steps – which he highlighted during the Model 3
unveiling conference in 2016.

Elon, during a TED talk interview, stated that he believed
that “when introducing a new technology
there needs to be three major versions before it can become a mass market
product” (Talks, 2013).
Firstly, to introduce the world to the electric car, Tesla produced a high cost
low volume car, in their second stage two midrange and mid volume cars were
brought to market, these incremental steps were designed to slowly introduce a
new element to the industry – a luxury electric car, as well as raising funds
and capital for their final step. The final stage is to introduce a low-cost
high-volume car, the Tesla Model 3. What this shows is that one of the main
concepts that are fundamental to entrepreneurship is a vision, not only a
vision but a plan to carry out that vision (Tesla, 2016).

Whilst innovation, whether radical or incremental, is part
of this vision and helps to build substance, it is the awareness to understand
the market or industry and see the opportunities that present themselves that
are fundamental to entrepreneurship. Of course, what Tesla is creating is
innovative, what is more impressive is how they are bringing it to market.
Anyone can have or be given a good idea; however, it takes a clinical
implementation of a structured plan to bring those ideas to market.

Many Economic theories highlight that entrepreneurship has
many different traits and characteristics, one central idea is innovation, can
be split into two forms: radical and incremental.

In his introduction to the book Capitalism, Socialism and
Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter Richard Swedberg, a Swedish Sociologist states
that Schumpeter “argued that economic
life always starts with the actions of a forceful individual and leads to the
rest of the economy” (Schumpeter, 1994, p. xi), suggesting that
there is a knock-on effect to the rest of the economy due to Radical
Innovation. Interestingly, there are other Economists who agree with
Schumpeter’s idea; Cheah (1990), suggested that Radical Innovation can lead on
to Incremental Innovation, the innovation discussed early by Kirzner. The
abolishment of the status quo enables other, arguably lesser, Innovation to
occur in incremental steps. Even though the new ventures threaten “continued viability of existing
products/processes” (Paul Westhead, 2013), it stimulates the
introduction of new entrepreneurs of a range of new processes and developments
complementary to the original endeavour.

Mark Casson, a British economist and academic, drew on
different theories regarding entrepreneurship, including those of Joseph
Schumpeter’s theory of innovation and Israel Kirzner’s theory of
opportunity-seeking, in order to develop a theory that fitted alongside
neo-classical ideas. His theory is very similar to that of Richard Cantillon
and states that entrepreneurship is the pursuit of risky innovative projects
that may contribute to the economy – efficiency and growth. How successful
these ventures are, will depend on drive of the entrepreneur and their
perceived future rewards such as salaries or profits. Contrastingly to
Schumpeter’s views, Casson sees entrepreneurs as risk bearers in the economy.
This mainstream School of Thought is one that is arguably most fits with the modern-day
definition of an entrepreneur. The Oxford English dictionary describes
entrepreneurship as the “The activity of
profit” (Dictionaries, 2017). Those entrepreneurs who are confident
in the judgement being made will commit their own funds – or use the funds of
another – being optimistic of being rewarded.

If one only used the Oxford English’s Definition of an
entrepreneur then one could argue that innovation is not necessary to be
classed as an entrepreneur as long as an individual is taking a financial risk,
such as spending money to start up a business.

However, taking into account the various schools of thought
if an individual is only investing money in someone else’s innovative idea and
not contributing in any other way to the business they cannot be classed as a
true entrepreneur, although they are taking a financial or opportunity risk –
as they are foregoing the benefit of using their investment somewhere else.

Using Cantillon’s theory allows anyone who invests in a
company to classed as an entrepreneur, whilst more recent theories place more
emphasis on the role of innovation rather than purely financial risk. It is
possible to take financial risk without being an entrepreneur however it is not
possible to innovate without being classed as an entrepreneur.

The various schools of thought all suggest that an
entrepreneur is someone who develops something new, different or deemed more
valuable than a competitor or is providing something that others deem superior.
Both of these suggestions are a form of Innovation thus it must be stated that
Innovation is central to successful entrepreneurship.

To conclude, based on the analysis of different Economic
Theories and by looking at the traits of successful entrepreneurs, it must be
concluded that Innovation is a central aspect of entrepreneurship, the two
terms are links as it is the implementation of entrepreneurial behaviour that
allows innovation to take place. Whilst, it is clear that one does not need to
innovate in order to be classed fit into the definition of an entrepreneur, it
must be noted that it doesn’t guarantee success. A key theme throughout the
theories looked at is Casson’s idea of “reward”;
combining this with Schumpeter and Kirzner’s ideas on Innovation it may be
concluded that successful innovation, whether it be incremental or radical,
that leads to reward is the key theme to entrepreneurship.


Sahli, H. F. 2006. Generalization in plant pollination systems and its effect on floral evolution within and among populations of wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). Ph.D. Dissertation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.

Citable PDF link:

While specialists are thought to be well adapted to their resources, generalists are thought to be a jack of-all-trades but master of none. However, few studies have examined how selection by multiple resources influences the evolution of morphnological traits in generalists. As most plants are dependent upon pollinators for reproduction, pollinators are important, and often essential, plant resources. I examined the degree of generalization in wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) nd how selection by multiple pollinators influences adaptation to each toxon individually, both within and among populations.

Although previous studies of generalization in plant-pollination systems have focused primarily on estimates of species richness, pollinators exhibit great variation in visitation rates. I found that diversity indices, which take into account both species richness and evenness, provide a more useful estimate of pollinator generalization. I characterized generalization in the pollinator assemblage of the widespread agricultural weed, wild radish, and studied how pollinators differed in their selection on several floral traits. Although wild radish is effectively pollinated by at least 14 pollinator genera, few of these taxa actually selected on floral traits. My findings suggest that wild radish is able to adapt to a subset of its pollinators without trading off the ability to effectively use other taxa.

Finally, I examined how selection and drift have contributed to differentiation of floral and phonological traits of wild radish by comparing estimates of population differentiation in quantitative traits (Qst) to population differentiation in allele frequencies (Fst). I found that differences in most floral traits among populations can be explained by drift alone. I also found that life history traits such as ovule number and flowering time were under strong divergent selection across populations, suggesting life history traits may have been important in colonization and adaptation to new habitats.

Overall, my results indicate that wild radish has successfully evolved to use many pollinators to effect reproduction, that it can adapt to a subset of these pollinators without trading off the ability to use others effectively, and that its success as a generalist my be one reason for its successful invasion in many non-native environments.

Download citation to endnote bibtex

Sign in to download PDF back to index
Sign In


skip to Main Content

Review of Flattering the Demos: Fiction and Democratic Education

Review Of Flattering The Demos: Fiction And Democratic Education

Flattering the Demos: Fiction and Democratic Education. Marlene K. Sokolon and Travis D. Smith, eds. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

That America’s institutions of higher education are in crisis is widely accepted. What should be blamed and what the remedy should be is widely debated. Marlene K. Sokolon and Travis D. Smith’s Flattering the Demos: Fiction and Democratic Education is a collection of essays from seven contributors and enters the crowded field of higher education discontent studies.

What makes Flattering the Demos stand out then? Sokolon and Smith do not focus on what is to blame, but instead focus on remedies. Whether one blames the rising costs of higher education, burdensome student loans, or professionalization, Sokolon and Smith push back on calls, nay, demands, for increased STEM education as the corrective. Increased STEM education usually is accompanied by reduction or elimination of the humanities and “narrative storytelling” (1).

Although they briefly note that the humanities are the most likely sources for developing the soft skills that employers need from their employees, Sokolon and Smith are not content to base their argument for humanities on the utility of employers. They argue that these so-called soft skills enhanced through narrative storytelling include skills that develop the individual’s capacity for self-governance. The shaping of thoughtful citizens for democratic governance is correctly understood as the function of higher education.

But if they had to assign blame, it would be the rise of and primacy of “rational argumentation” and “modern empirical science” over disciplines that study narratives (1). Storytelling offers an “alternative or complementary epistemological approach to the strict rationalism in understanding the human being within his or her socio-political context” (3). In one of the most economical presentations of the ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy, Sokolon and Smith suggest that the preference for rationalistic inquiry over poetry might be due to overly zealous interpretations of Socrates’ banishment of the poets in Plato’s Republic.

Sokolon and Smith acknowledge the ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy, but prefer to stress how thinkers, such as Lucretius and Montesquieu, have relied on the educative side of poetry. Many disciplines such as literature, theology, classics, and history among others still rely on the interpretation of narrative texts. Here Sokolon and Smith mention several of the benefits that flow from the close reading of narrative texts. Stories help us recognize reinforcing and challenging social conventions, explore the “tensions, conflicts, and paradoxes” of human life, and conduct thought experiments or test kitchens for ideas (3).

Democratic peoples because they participate in governance especially have need of the kind of moral and political education that stories offer. The promise of Flattering the Demos is to show that literature, or narrative storytelling generally, has insights into the merits and foibles of democratic peoples—insights that prepare students for thoughtful democratic governance. The essays that follow are demonstrations. Each essay illustrates how stories can instruct and teach democratic peoples. These essays may certainly be read individually. What holds the essays together is that each author offers a window to how the democratic peoples may be flattered, sometimes for good but more often for ill.

Marlene K. Sokolon’s essay on Euripides’ Suppliant Women shows how political leaders aim to flatter and manipulate the populace. Sokolon’s essay is worth the price of the book. The argument is carefully drawn from the text. Sokolon rejects the conventional opinion that Euripides introduces a debate on the best regime for the sake of affirming democracy. Instead, she claims that Euripides uses the debates concerning what the best regime is as occasions to highlight the ways in which Theseus’s speech and practice do not align—thus, training his audience to weigh what democratic leaders say and do. Euripides educates his audience to recognize demagogues. By showing his audience how to evaluate Theseus’s words and deeds, Euripides puts his audience on guard against flatterers and would-be demagogues. My only wish is for more analyses of Euripides’ dramas by Sokolon. A glance at the contributor’s page confirms that Sokolon is working on a book on Euripides.

Derval Ryan’s “Of Villains and Victims: Guilt and Bad Conscience in Richard III” builds on the dangers of sweet-talking political leaders and shows how Richard exploits guilt and bad conscience to his gain. Shakespeare anticipates Nietzsche when Richard says “conscious is but a word that cowards use/Devised at first to keep the strong in awe.” For example, Richard plays the victim to Lady Ann—a victim of her loveliness—as he contrives to seduce her. Bad conscience, however, is a rhetorical posture available to victims as well. Queen Margaret, for example, taps into bad conscience to stir the great to oppose Richard. Women may be political dispossessed, but are not without resources. They are empowered by their victimhood. The women’s curses remind the great of Richard’s crimes and so guilts them into opposing Richard. Ryan approvingly claims that Shakespeare recognizes that guilt and bad conscience become “the tools of the disempowered” to affect change on their behalf (42). Ryan’s essay nicely shows that Shakespeare understood how the posture of the victim offers rhetorical advantages, but ultimately that Richard was undermined by reality. He clearly was not a wronged person. Yet, Ryan notes that much of Richard’s success in the short-term is due to the inability of his stupefied interlocutors to counter his false claims.

Kimberly Hurd Hale’s “Only Human: Free Will and Choice in Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot” shows how easily we are flattered that we have control over our technological creations. Hale argues that Asimov’s I Robot chronicles the slow but sure decline of democratic politics as androids increasingly become more indispensable and less subject to human control. Asimov’s insight is that the loss of human control over the androids happens almost imperceptibly until it is too late for democratic means to reassert themselves. We humans are too easily flattered that the technology we create will always remain under our control. Hale’s literature review is immensely valuable in which she situates Asimov’s insights in I, Robot as relevant for debates concerning the ethics of the transhuman movement and the political status and rights of artificial intelligence. Algorithms and artificial intelligence aim to remove human flaws and weakness from making calculations for the sake of improving human life, but it also risks sacrificing our capacity for greatness, spiritedness, and democratic debate. Democratic debate is necessary to determine what technology should and should not pursued.

Travis Smith’s essay “Comedy and Comic Books” is likely the cheeriest of the book and another worthy contribution to the sub-field of “superhero studies.” Comic books flatter, but largely for sake of uplifting us and inspiring us. We non-supers may not be superheroes but we can be inspired by the ethics of superheroes who voluntarily choose to serve others rather than their interests. In this way, superheroes are highly valuable in democratic societies for the sake of correcting the low standards of Hobbesian liberal democracy. For example, Hobbes emphasizes refraining from action rather that positively helping others. To link Smith’s essay to Hale’s, unlike the androids in Asimov’s work over whom humans have illusionary control, superheroes are free. Like us, they must choose to do good. What restrains superheroes is what restrains democratic citizens as well—their virtue. Perhaps the most scandalous (from the perspective of modern liberalism) is that superheroes own being superheroes and recognize their status as supers. Yet, superheroes are palatable because they treat people like equals and do not assume authority over the lives of non-supers. Smith’s chapter here should be read alongside his book Superhero Ethics as another contribution to the burgeoning field of superhero studies.

Bruce Peabody’s “Explaining the Paranoid Style in American Politics: System Disjuncture and Narratives of Fiction” uses Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and JFK (1991) as examples of paranoid narratives in film. Americans perceive a disjunction between the idealized politics that the Constitution should produce and the messy realities that Washington politics produces. The cognitive dissonance between the two sets of politics is resolved by appealing to conspiracy theories and other paranoid narratives. These paranoid narratives, which are self-justifying and difficult to falsify, explain even as they flatter the viewer about how elites have supplanted the Constitution for their interests. In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) is a political outsider who reveres the Declaration, but in Washington, he struggles as a senator to put his constituents first amid the corruption of party machine politics.  Likewise, JKF features Jim Garrison, an investigative journalist who aims to uncover the truth about the Kennedy assassination but is subverted by the nearly every major player in Washington from the FBI to the Secret Service to members of Kennedy’s administration. JFK present another facet to the paranoid narrative in which a utopian alternative political reality (represented by the promise of John F. Kennedy’s administration) is cruelly denied to the American people due to the machinations of Washington politics. As Peabody concludes, given contemporary politics, Americans are likely to turn even more toward paranoid narratives for false mollification.

James Beneda’s “A Band of Brothers Against Terrorism: The Citizen-Soldier Ideal in Post-9/11 US Military Mobilization” argues that the popularized image of military service as membership in a “band of brothers” is a boondoggle doctrine to encourage young people to accept the realities of war in the vain hope that they will “achieve the virtue of brotherhood” (128). Beneda traces the motif in American public writings to the founding and back to Shakespeare’s Henry V. In every case, the motive for invoking the romance of comradeship is to serve the interests of the state—increased or sustained military participation. Beneda focuses on the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers as primary promoter of band of brothers motif that formed the “heroic ideal” (112) post-9/11 and through the Iraq war. The better part of the chapter traces the development of the miniseries and other films of that era that celebrated military service. Band of Brothers idealized the service of WWII veterans and films like Black Hawk Down (2001) and We Were Soldiers (2002) idealized sacrifice of individual soldiers. Unlike the films, the miniseries had lasting cultural effects. Beneda notes an uptick in the number of times of the phrase “band of brothers” is invoked in newspapers, became the title of a Willie Nelson album, and eventually was applied to any close-knit group of people such as firefighters. Beneda calls for young people to read works like Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried and similar works as remedies.

Alexandra Manoliu’s “Political TV Series, Or, a Case of Unflattering the Demos” applies cultivation theory (analyzing the long-term effects tv has on viewers) to political TV series and, while noting other political series, focuses on The West Wing (1999) and House of Cards (2013). While viewers know they watch fictionalized stories, they are nevertheless “‘drawn into’ a parallel political reality” (136). Their beliefs are shaped by what they see on TV. In 1999, Americans found political succor from the sordid politics of the Clinton scandal and impeachment in the squeaky earnest and morally righteous Josiah Bartlett presidency in The West Wing. Bartlett’s administration was populated by morally sound, competent public servants. But times have changed. Manoliu argues that political series have turned towards unflattering narratives of democracy. These series promise to show viewers what happens behind closed doors and it is not pretty. In House of Cards, Frank Underwood narrates his ruthless deeds. In addition to cultivating cynicism and disillusionment with politicians and journalists, House of Cards depicts the people unfit for self-rule. Manoliu highlights how streaming has changed how political stories are crafted. The West Wing’s seasons contained some overarching plot points, but each episode stood alone. Viewers had to tune in week after week. Nowadays, Netflix releases full seasons at once. House of Card’s seasons are tighter, more intricate, and each episode flows seamlessly into the next. Binge-watching, Manoliu suggests, concentrates and reinforces the dose of political corruption and deceit to which the viewer is exposed.

Steven Orr’s “The Problem with a Pitiful Rump: On Impropriety and Political Philosophy” is the only chapter not to feature a writer, film, or tv show. Instead, Orr argues that while mid-20th century political thinkers such as Leo Strauss, Peter Laslett, and Isaiah Berlin fretted about the decline of political philosophy, its fundamental questions and activity were carried on in literature. Orr targets Strauss especially for approbation for his assertion that the treatise is the best form for political philosophy. Since Strauss and others fixated on proper form in which political philosophy ought to show itself, they believed political philosophy was near its death. Like the much-quoted Mark Twain quip that reports of his death are exaggerated, the same applies to political philosophy. Relying on Ronald Beiner, Orr argues that the task of political philosophy is ‘to confront human beings with a range of the most intellectually ambitious accounts of the standard by which to judge what makes a human life consummately human’ (155). The exploration of ways of living does not require the form of the treatise. By this measure, Orr argues that literature has taken up these questions in our present time. Moreover, literature and literary forms have long been a part of political philosophy. Orr cites Plato who wrote in dialogues and engaged with Homer’s epics among other poetic works as sources of political thought. Orr details adeptly the mid-20th century debates concerning the fate of political philosophy but curiously tucks away in a footnote what sort of literature and films might count as political philosophy.

Also see Sean Steel’s review and an excerpt of the book.

Elizabeth Amato

Back To Top


I am finding myself in a difficult situation. I took a new job in June with a start date in middle August. I am from a EU country and I should relocate in UK for my new activity. Due to a health issue problem of my parents I had to move the start date to middle September, but now the problem has recurred and I am uncomfortably close to the start date. I don't think they will grant me another start date delay and, giving the circumstances, I don't think I will be able to join at the concorded day. How can I explain the situation without looking fickle?

  • Only partly related: Did you make sure that as a EU but non-UK citizen, you are still able to work/stay at your new job after of Brexit? Otherwise, relocating for only a few months might not be worth it (given that the date doesn't get pushed back forever). – Dirk Sep 3 at 9:12
  • @Dirk in theory yes, with a lot more of bureaucracy and paperworks. Practically, nobody knows for certain, since there is still no deal and no final decision on immigration measures. – Userno1234 Sep 3 at 9:56

If it's concerning health you could simply say "That the previous health problem relapsed and you need more time". Which probably has 2 results: Either the company comply and extend or in urgent need and don't want to wait anymore.

Alternatively, you could pay another person to take care of your parent if it's not serious health issue such as stroke which resulting in half paralyze. You could pay for a nurse to help take care while you're working. My parent also does this for taking care of my grandparent since they need to work and unable to take care while they're working.

If they need that post to start, then you could well loose the post and it won't be their fault.

You have pushed the start date which they accepted, if you ask again, they do not have to accept and you are, or could be, in breach of contract which could be sufficient grounds for termination.

  • Well, I never said it was their fault. They've been quite understanding until now. I took a decision back in June basing on certain circumstances, that changed dramatically after a few weeks. – Userno1234 Sep 3 at 10:32
  • @Userno1234 When I mentioned fault, it was not the past but the future... – Solar Mike Sep 3 at 10:44

Your Answer


Townsend's Building, Rousham Park, Oxfordshire

The RIBA is committed to promoting and supporting architects in delivering better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment.

More than one in five buildings in the UK pre-date 1919 and the competence of qualified practitioners in the diverse field of conservation practice is essential. Our historic environment is one of the UK’s most valuable assets and it is passed on, cherished and valued from generation to generation.

RIBA believes that architects have a primary role in identifying the potential challenges of historic buildings, areas and places, including managing change in a sustainable manner. Architects find design solutions including the repair, maintenance, adaptation and re-use of historic buildings and places that sustains and promotes their cultural significance.

As well as accredited qualified architects on the RIBA Conservation Register, we also provide leadership and support for members and practices through our Conservation Group (CG). The CG seeks to represent the diverse and exciting work being undertaken by the heritage sector, with its key focus on building conservation. It works closely with the RIBA Conservation Register Steering Group to ensure the Conservation Register assessment criteria are fair, relevant, and maintain a high level of professional competence among conservation architects.

Further reading

RIBA Books publishes books on architectural heritage and conservation.

Need help?

For more information, contact the RIBA Client Services team.

keyboard_arrow_up To top


Southeast Asia is at the forefront of a global energy-market transformation that is outpacing even the most ambitious predictions. In the last few days, a report from analyst Wood Mackenzie stated that the ASEAN nations will need to double their energy capacity in the next 20 years, at a cost of more than US$500 billion.

Embed from Getty Images

Greenhouses in Yang Fang village in Anlong, Guizhou province, China, have solar panels on their roofs.

WoodMac also concluded that half of the new capacity within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc will come from renewables, a very different profile to what energy markets were assuming only a few short years ago.

The WoodMac forecast for this region is unexpected, and highlights that ASEAN states have the opportunity to learn from both the successes and failures of other parts of the world that are further down the energy-transition path, and at the same time leverage the enormous cost deflation achieved in renewables in the past two years.

In Europe, the rise of cheap renewable energy has combined with falling electricity demand thanks to the impact of energy efficiency to pull down wholesale electricity prices to unprecedented lows, causing financial pain for utilities that have delayed their transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

Over the 2010-2016 period, European utilities have made US$150 billion in asset write-downs. Investors from Goldman Sachs and UBS have been warning for years that coal has reached retirement age and that solar will become the “default technology of the future”.

Similar trends have been apparent now for some time in China and more recently in India, where drives to install both thermal and renewable capacity concurrently have seen utilization rates for coal-fired power stations drop to 47% in China and 56% in India in 2016. This is despite electricity demand growing in these countries.

While some utilities such as Italy’s Enel and the United States’ NextEra are world leaders in positioning themselves for electricity systems dominated by renewables, there are many examples of utilities suffering significant shareholder-value destruction as a result of resisting the inevitable or belatedly making their transition.

Once Germany’s biggest utility, E.On’s belated response was to spin off its struggling coal, gas and hydro generation assets into a separate company. Germany’s RWE has been affected in the same way. By failing to refocus their businesses toward renewables sooner, these major players have suffered significant continuing reductions in shareholder value compared with Enel, which made its strategic move earlier.

In Australia, where thermal power is being progressively replaced by a growing base of renewable-energy plants, AGL appears to be another utility leader. Even despite continuing policy uncertainty, into 2017, Australia is seeing an A$11 billion (US$8.6 billion) wave of investments in renewable-energy infrastructure projects.

In accepting a future dominated by a succession of closures of end-of-life coal-fired power plants and one in which expensive domestic gas is no longer an option as a transition fuel, AGL is working to ensure the closure of its last coal-fired power stations ahead of target.

In fast-developing countries like India, increasing electricity demand means the large coal-fired generation fleet cannot be quickly abandoned. However, the global energy transition backed by the biggest financial players has not gone unnoticed by state utility NTPC, which is becoming a key linchpin of the Indian government’s emerging leadership in renewable energy. This transformation is economically logical given that, as of 2017, solar is cheaper than existing coal-fired power generation.

A key economic imperative is that renewables are deflationary. The equation is simple. Technology gains and economies of scale have seen renewable generation consistently outbid fossil fuel-based generation in an ever-wider number of markets from Brazil and Mexico, to Dubai and South Africa.

While countries including Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar currently face the offer of relatively cheap international export credit agency (ECA) finance for thermal power, this is in effect a manufacturing and engineering capacity fire-sale, with China, Japan and South Korea seizing a final opportunity to offload old technology produced by domestic manufacturers even as it becomes completely obsolete.

But around the world, the biggest financial institutions such as the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Bank of England, BlackRock, Deutsche Bank, CalSTARS, JPMorgan Chase, Macquarie Group and Swiss Re, plus AXA and SCOR of France, have all come out in support of a renewable transition and/or changed investment policies to avoid stranded asset risk and expand low emissions investment capacity.

Notably, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, stated this year that “coal is dead”.

Put simply, electricity utilities need to accelerate their path toward renewable energy to avoid the financial risks and shareholder-value erosion incurred by being a late mover.

This is the clear global lesson, and it’s one that should be heeded by the fast-growing economies of Southeast Asia, because the decisions they make now will have repercussions for decades to come, delaying the inevitable transition to a more sustainable, lower-cost energy system, and missing out on strong investment flows and job creation in industries of the future.


Explorations in the New Economic Geography

Detta är en avhandling från Department of Economics, Lund University, P. O. Box 7082, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden

Sammanfattning: The point of departure of this thesis is the rapidly growing research field known as the New Economic Geography (NEG). It consists of four chapters, one introductory chapter and three self-contained theoretical studies. The chapters may be summarised as follows. The first chapter gives a brief account of the NEG. It explains the soaring interest in the location of economic activity, and it reviews two important strands of models in the literature. Some of the models’ weaknesses are pointed out, and the thesis’ aim and main results are presented. In the second chapter we examine under what circumstances a region in the technological lead may lose its front position due to agglomeration externalities. Firms agglomerate in one region due to increasing returns, transportation costs and input-output linkages among firms. This essay illustrates that the risk of locking in to an old technology is increasing in the benefits of agglomeration. In the de-industrialised region factor prices are lower and a new technology may be profitable to adopt in that region instead, inducing a change in the technological leadership. In the third chapter we challenge two features common to almost every NEG model: the absence of strategic interaction among firms and the catastrophic nature of agglomeration. We employ a homogeneous-good Cournot oligopoly model and analyse a two-stage location-quantity game with many firms and two regions. There are no linkages in the model; firms’ spatial competition for market shares drives all results. In a benchmark case with regions of equal size, we show that the firms will never agglomerate in the same location if transportation is costly between the regions. However, the set of location equilibria changes if a difference in market size is introduced. For high levels of trade costs firms locate in different regions. Lowering the trade costs beyond a critical level triggers a one-firm relocation to the larger region. The nature of agglomeration is gradual and trade costs have to be successively lowered for a full-scale agglomeration to take place. Finally, we also find that the market generates excess agglomeration, and that introducing imperfect consumer arbitrage affects the symmetry-breaking level of trade costs. In the fourth essay we analyse the political determination of transportation costs in an analytically solvable core-periphery model. In a benchmark case with certainty about where agglomeration will take place, we find that a majority of voters prefer low transport costs and the resulting equilibrium is an industrialised core and a de-industrialised periphery. Allowing for uncertainty we show that a high transport cost candidate, that guarantees the initial symmetric equilibrium, may defeat the concentrated equilibrium candidate. The reason is that the immobile factor of production does not know whether industry will end up in its home region when it votes, introducing a bias for status quo. This is so even if reform is efficiency-enhancing for society as a whole and needs no financing.


British Columbia

Off-peak sailing discounts coming for major BC Ferries routes

BC Ferries plans to remove reservation fees for certain sailings, in an effort to encourage people to choose to travel during off-peak times.

The planned changes will affect passengers who make reservations

BC Ferries plans to remove reservation fees for sailings during off-peak times on its major routes between Vancouver Island and the mainland. (Robb Douglas/CBC)

A ride on BC Ferries routes between the mainland and Vancouver Island on a long weekend or other busy time will often include multiple sailing waits and long lines. The ferry system is beyond capacity during those times, and it can drive up passenger frustration.

In an effort to reduce that pressure on the ferry system, BC Ferries is planning to remove reservation fees for certain sailings.

According to spokesperson Deborah Marshall, the hope is people will choose to travel when there's plenty of space on the ships.

"What we're looking at is offering discounts at off-peak times and the idea behind that would be to shift some of the discretionary traffic," said Marshall.

Marshall said the changes will only come to the three major routes between the mainland and Vancouver Island: Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay; Horsehoe Bay to Nanaimo; and Tsawwassen to Nanaimo,

She said walk-on passengers and people who arrive without reservations won't notice any difference — only people making off-peak reservations.

According to Marshall, the specific details will be revealed in the coming months, and BC Ferries is aiming to roll out the changes in the fall.


The Chess Variant Pages
Custom Search

Partnership Chaturanga

Partnership Chaturanga is simply a contemporary variation of the old 4-player Chaturanga played with four-sided long dice, in India about 1000 years ago.

Four players form two 2-player partnerships. Four different color chess sets (Black & White, and any two other colors) are required to play the game and two 6-side dice.

The Black and White armies form one partnership, the other two colors (i.e. Red & Green) form the other partnership.

Alternately, if two different color chess sets are not available, a different size chess set can be used for the 2nd army. The White & Black pieces of the 2nd different size chess are used by the 2nd partnership.

The setup (diagram above left) is the same as for 4-player Chaturanga, except for the use of the modern Bishops on the corner squares to represent the old Boats.

Alternately, the four pieces behind the pawns can be placed in a random order. The arrangements must be symmetric for all players (sample random diagram above right). There are 24 possible random positions.

It doesn't matter whether you have a light or dark square on your left corner square. It's irrelevant with what color squares in your corner you start the game.

Kings, Rooks, and Knights move as in orthodox chess. Pawns, also move and capture as in orthodox chess, but have no initial double move.

Bishops move like the old Boats, or an Alfil: leaping two squares diagonally. Boats are color bound pieces.

In the initial layout, enemy Bishops (or Boats) can not face each other in battle for they start off in oposite color squares from one army to the next (unless they are promoted to the opposite squares later on in the game).

There are no 'en passant', castling, check or checkmate rules in this game.

The objective is to capture both opponents' kings to win the game.

Once a parternship has bare Kings (one or two) the opponents have 20 rolls to finish the game and capture the bare Kings (or King). Otherwise the game will be a partnership draw.

Two 6-side dice are used to determine which pieces can be moved.

Each player in their turn rolls the dice, and get to play two pieces (or the same piece twice) based on the numbers showing on the roll. Then play moves on clockwise to the next player.

Depending on the roll a player may only be allowed to play one piece, or none at all (an all sixes roll is forced pass).

Players are allowed to pass:
- At will (if they do not want to play one or either of their rolls)
- If one of the rolls would yield an illegal move
- If the roll calls for a piece the player doesn't own anymore
- By the forced pass roll (an all sixes roll)

Roll Values:
1 = King or Pawn move
2 = Bishop (as Boat/Alfil) move
3 = Knight move
4 = Rook Move
5 = King or Pawn move
6 = A pass (the player can't play this roll)

Three Dice Variant

Three dice may be used instead of two to give players an extra option to choose from for what to play. After rolling, players are required to discard the one dice of his/her choice, and play the numbers shown by the other two dice.

Pawns promote immediately to: King, Rook, Knight or Boat. The player promotes to his/her choice of a piece of his own army that has already been captured. If no pieces are available for the promotion, the pawn is inmobilized until the next piece of the same color becomes available. While the pawn is inmobilized at the promotion square, it is vulnerable to an opponent attack and can be captured.

Promoting to a captured King is only allowed once per player. A King that has been captured twice can not return to the game.

= = = =

A player can continue to move his/her pieces after his own king is captured (this is a partnership game). He/she can continue to attack the enemy armies, or protect his/her partner's King.

It's possible for a player's entire army to be annihilated, which would put him out of the game (without needing to roll anymore). In this case his/her partner continues to play against the forces of the other partnership. The players in the opposite partnership now roll in their turn back to back against the lonely opponent.

It is possible to capture one's partners pieces when it strategically makes sense. Capturing your partner's King or your own pieces is illegal.

Since there is no check or checkmate, it is possible to put one's own King (or any other piece) en prise.

A common tactic to take a chance and put a piece on a threatened square (en prise), with the hope that the next roll will not allow an opponent to capture the piece.

Unlike orthodox chess, the King is not a passive piece. Kings are often taking part of the attack, especially when his/her partners King is still on the board.

This is a very fast aggressive game which promotes team work.

When I first saw the rules for the 4-player Chaturanga, I felt that the game a bit too complex, especially if I wanted to try the game with my children (ages 5 and 7) and my wife (not chess inclined).

With my simple changes to the rules of the former game, the addition of commonly known 6-side dice, and the luck rolls; the game became a very easy, balanced, quick and interesting game to play with my small family.

The luck of the dice took my chess strategic advantage away, and made the game fun for my wife an young daugther (she rolled a double two in the first game and got my King with her Boat the first time around!) to play.

The game has been great for my older son to develop his tactical eye, as the dice take away the need for him to worry which piece to move, and instead he concentrates on how to maximize the damage he can cause with the roll he gets.

Chess Variants by the Author:

Other Pages by the Author:

By Jose Carrillo.
Web page created: 2009-06-28. Web page last updated: 2009-06-28


Providing evidence to improve practice

Action: Relocate birds following oil spills Bird Conservation

Key messages

Read our guidance on Key messages before continuing

A replicated study in South Africa found that a higher percentage of African penguins Spheniscus demersus that were relocated following an oil spill bred at their old colonies, compared to birds which were rehabilitated after being oiled, despite fewer relocated birds being seen at their home colony.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A replicated trial following the Treasure oil spill in 2000 between Robben and Dassen Islands, Western Cape, South Africa (Wolfaardt & Nel 2003), found that 62% of 1,130 African penguins Spheniscus demersus that were moved 800 km east and released were recorded on Dassen Island, two years after the event, with 41% breeding. This compared with a higher number of rehabilitated (oiled, cleaned and released) birds being seen (75% of 2,744), but fewer breeding (17%). Relocated birds began arriving at Dassen Island 11 days after being released, with most arriving 18 days or so after relocation. In total, 19,500 birds were relocated. This study is also discussed in ‘Clean birds following oil spills’.

Referenced papers

Please cite as:


Guerrilla games emerged onto the stage to announce a completely new series, Horizon: Zero Dawn.

The beginning of the trailer had cave drawings that made me think Native American, but as the trailer continued on, it became clear that it wasn’t. I looks to be more of an “after modern society has fallen” game. However, this modern society was built by The Old Ones. We aren’t told anything more about the Old Ones, other than that they built massive, glittering cities, let them fall and get overtaken by nature, and humanity reemerged to what it is now: a bit more primitive, tribe cultured, hunters and gatherers.

New life has emerged in this wasteland, but not what you’d think. They resemble, robotic dinosaurs, if I had to give you something to equate them to. The main character, a young, red-headed girl whose name isn’t given, states that she is part of the first tribe to migrate to that area and begin hunting them. That is where the game play footage starts.

Guerrilla did not lie, it’s a whole new thing happening, with some elements of other games, such as hiding in tall weeds like in Assassins Creed, but it looks promising. This is one to keep an eye out for, and see what they actually do with it beyond these early stages.

Join the Conversation

Notify of


Postdoc Jobs
PT Hourly POOL - Psychologist
Institution: Golden West College
Location: California, United States
Category: Faculty - Liberal Arts - Psychology
Posted: 10/12/2018
Application Due: 00/00/0000
Type: Fulltime

Under the administrative leadership of the Director of Student Health Center, the psychologist is responsible for facilitating the physical and emotional well-being of students, thereby improving retention and academic success.

  1. Assess students in mental health crisis. Provide effective and rapid intervention with students in mental health crisis and act as a consultant to instructional faculty and staff when confronted with such crises. Provide resources on campus related to crisis intervention.

  2. Provide short-term, brief counseling services to students and assist students in problem resolution, including: crisis intervention, assessment, planning and implementation of his/her immediate and long term clinical goals.

  3. Serve as a college resource on issues of mental health and as a referral resource to the local mental health community.

  4. Assist the Director of the Student Health Center with planning student health programs to respond to identified needs; implement new need-based programs and monitor existing programs for effectiveness, applicability, and safety through ongoing quality improvement and program review activities.

  5. Provide referrals to students for college and community support services to resolve psychosocial stressors; refer students to appropriate internal and/or external healthcare providers as necessary. Educate students and staff regarding effective coping skills to minimize emotional stress.

  6. Assist the physician and nurses with students' mental health needs as applicable; follow professional protocols for licensed psychologists as stipulated by the Board of Psychology.

  7. Ensure confidentiality is maintained as stated by law; and maintain complete, official, confidential mental health records for the Student Health Center as required by District policy and administrative procedures and submit them in accordance with established policies and procedures.

  8. Follow and ensure department regulations concerning the proper use, care, and security of college equipment and District property are met in accordance with established policy and procedures; advise administration of unsafe conditions or potential hazards and recommend solutions.

Qualifications and Physical Demands

Knowledge of:

  1. Standard of practice for clinical records according to the Board of Psychology.

  2. Clinical therapy methods with individuals and groups, preferably in a community college setting.

  3. Correct English composition, grammar, spelling and vocabulary.

  4. Crisis intervention and demonstrated appropriate and effective crisis intervention skills and techniques.

  5. Current guiding principles in psychological services in community college settings.

  6. Current health issues, including, but not limited to, nutrition, stress management, reproductive health, mental health, substance abuse and recovery, and communicable diseases.

  7. Drug and alcohol addiction/use and eating disorders.

  8. Interpersonal skills including tact, patience and diplomacy.

  9. Legal and ethical standards of licensed psychologists.

  10. Local, state and federal laws and regulations related to student mental health counseling in community colleges.

  11. Mental health promotion and advocacy techniques.

  12. Operation of a computer, peripherals and software programs, including word processing.

  13. Oral and written communication skills.

  14. Principles and practices of mental health counseling, training and supervision.

  15. Public relations and public speaking techniques.

  16. Report writing techniques.

  17. Research methods in psychological counseling.

  18. Strategies and methods to enhance mental health of students.

  19. Technical aspects of field of specialty.

  20. Sensitivity to the challenges of the disabled and an understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students.

 Ability to:

  1. Analyze problems, identify alternative solutions, project consequences of proposed actions and implement recommendations.

  2. Analyze situations accurately and adopt an effective course of action.

  3. Assess the psychological needs of students and develop an appropriate plan of intervention.

  4. Attend/participate in professional conferences, seminars, or meetings.

  5. Collect, compile, analyze data and prepare reports.

  6. Communicate clearly and concisely, orally, in writing and through electronic medium.

  7. Communicate effectively with a diverse population within and outside of the District.

  8. Develop professional skills and up-to-date subject matter knowledge.

  9. Develop, implement and evaluate the delivery of mental healthcare services to students.

  10. Encourage professional excellence among the staff and promote an organizational culture of customer service, innovation, and quality services. Foster a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, innovation and continuous improvement throughout the District.

  11. Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with those with whom they are in contact in the course of work.

  12. Follow professional protocols for licensed mental health professionals as stipulated by the appropriate professional organization.

  13. Maintain current knowledge of mental healthcare practices; membership and contributions to professional organizations and/or community service.

  14. Maintain records and the security of confidential information and materials.

  15. Operate a computer, office equipment, peripherals and applications software, including database management, spreadsheet, word processing and software related to the area of assignment.

  16. Participate in institutional research activities and grants as needed.

  17. Prepare and present oral and written reports and recommendations.

  18. Provide appropriate emergency response and crisis care intervention to students; administer treatment as needed.

  19. Read, interpret, apply and explain complex state and federal laws and other rules, regulations, policies and procedures related to assigned program.

  20. Understand technical and medical terminology.

  21. Understand and work within the scope of practice.

  22. Work cooperatively with administrators, faculty, staff and the community including physicians, psychiatrists and available referral sources to achieve common goals including student recruitment and retention.

  23. Work effectively and collaboratively in a multi-college environment, as well as within a system of community college districts.

  24. Work effectively with high-risk, under-prepared and special needs students.

Education and Experience:

  1. Doctorate in Psychology from an American Psychological Association (APA) accredited university.

  2. At least two (2) years of current clinical therapy experience.

  3. Current California Licensure in Psychology.

  1. Previous employment experience working with students in a college setting, including successful experience supporting students of diverse academic, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds, as well as students with disabilities.

Conditions of Employment

Appropriate placement based on the PP Salary Schedule.

Additional Information

  1. A complete Coast Community College District Online Employment Application.

  3. A cover letter (uploaded as a separate attachment - PDF recommended).

  4. Answers to all supplemental questions (please provide clear and detailed responses as they will be carefully evaluated to determine the most qualified candidate(s) to be invited for an interview; please do not paste your resume, or put "see resume" or "N/A").

Applications must be received no later than the posted closing date, when applicable. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. Electronic applications may be completed by visiting Once you have completed an electronic application, you may apply to open positions within the Coast Community College District by submitting the application and all other required materials. Required materials differ for each open position and must be complete when submitted for a specific posting. Instructions for completing applications and applying to posted positions are available online or by calling Applicant Processing at (714) 438-4714 or (714) 438-4716.

Disability Accommodations:

  • Applicants who meet the required qualifications and who are also deemed to possess the highest degree of desirable qualifications will be invited to discuss their qualifications in an interview with the College/District. Therefore, when applicable, it is highly recommended that applicants submit clear, detailed responses to all supplemental questions in order to demonstrate his/her qualifications as related to the position.

Coast Community College District is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Application Information
Online App. Form:


Institutt for sammenliknende politikk

Jon Kåre Skiple new research fellow at Department of Comparative Politics

Research fellow Jon Kåre Skiple.
Hilmar L. Mjelde

Skiple began his four year PhD studies at the Department of Comparative Politics October 1st. Skiple’s PhD dissertation addresses the internationalization of Norwegian law, through the EEA-agreement and the European convention on human rights, and asks how this internationalization affects the Supreme Court’s influence on the Norwegian society. A main question for the project is to what degree this internationalization generates new cleavages within the Supreme Court and the degree to which theories of judicial behavior can contribute to our understanding of court cleavages.

Skiple completed his master’s degree in comparative politics in 2012. His master’s thesis examined how justices’ political preferences influenced their voting in economic rights cases in the Supreme Court. After his degree, Skiple has mainly been working on a project on judicial behavior on the Norwegian Supreme Court. Here Skiple has contributed to the development of an extensive database on decisions and justices on the Norwegian Supreme Court. He has also conducted a range of statistical analysis of voting in civilian cases in the Norwegian Supreme Court. He has co-authored an article on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s landmark decisions on asylum children, together with Frøy Gudbrandsen and Gunnar Grendstad.

In addition to his interest in justices and courts, Skiple is interested in research methodology generally and statistical methods in particular. He is currently organizing the seminar on statistical methods for the master students.


Five unusual rainbows and how they are formed

Video Loading

How did it occur?

It is a circumzenithal arc that appears when the sunlight refracts through ice crystals in cirrus clouds

Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the Met Office, said: "I suspect that residents may have seen a circumzenithal arc, a feature caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in cirrus clouds.

"Cirrus are a high-altitude cloud, composed of ice crystals. These arcs are quite frequent but are often obscured by other lower altitude cloud.

"The conditions across South Wales yesterday evening would have given skywatchers a good chance of seeing them."

What is a circumzenithal arc?

Sometimes known as a Bravias' arc, they are formed when sunlight refracts through horizontal ice crystals at such an angle that the light enters the crystal through its flat top face and exits though a side prism face.

The height, depth and position of the ice clouds must be right as the cloud needs to be at a specific angle to the sun.

The position of the observer is also important since its visibility can vary greatly over short distances.


Helpful agents are standing by: (888) 847-9158
Press play below to listen to our audio commercial:

All about Health insurance trends and what will benefit you

HealthInsuranceHealth insurance is part of our market trends. When talking to several people about what things are the most important to them, you will immediately notice that health comes first. It is totally fair to say you want to be healthy, but how much can you control uncertain events and those unexpected situations. Is it really something you can plan? Of course not and this is why you might want to consider health quotes.

You can somehow reduce risks of injuries and you can establish a budget but the reality is that you do not know what destiny will unfold. Each person is a combination of several factors, including genetics, habits and activities. The truth is we never had so many resources and health insurance at low prices. Plenty of studies are going on and on. In terms of diseases, Cancer, hypertension and diabetes are now part of our day to day. And our bodies are struggling to handle the constant stress of our activities and environment.

It is no news that death and a random illness is a certainty. It can be frustrating to think this way but it is part of the natural process of life. What we can plan in our lives are ways to cope with crippling diseases and long term. This is when an individual health insurance comes to play. Are you going to face the situation or leave it to chance? So, nobody knows when they may get ill, but odds are you will be getting sick at some point.

Among the most important aspect of health insurance, is the fact of preventing economic loss. Coupled with a crippling disease is the fact that you may end up facing a financial crisis. Thus, you should consider the best policy. This makes emphasis on the importance of thinking about disability insurance and so on. Beyond that, degenerative diseases require even more planning. It will take money to pay nurses or specialized care facilities.

Help your body with better habits, and also think about what protection you should have in the worst case. Prevention is always better than to be sorry later. Within the common doubts, a common one is linked to types of coverage. Truth is that we tend to believe that health insurance is a standardized product. This could not be further from the truth, especially since there is a lot going on. Every company offers different categories and health quotes. The worst nightmare for an insurance client is that during an illness or accident to realize that the condition is not covered and have to deal economically with their personal resources.

Remember that medical insurance is the principle of preserving life first and second, to protect the finances of the user. When choosing, try to remember the following:

–           Does it offer personalized customer service?

–           Do not pay a deductible each time you use a service.

–           Choose the specialist you need.

You should find the most reliable company. For this look for health insurance quotes and begin walking towards a healthy life. Enter your zip code and easily gain access to plenty of quotes from the top medical coverage companies.


Chiplun to Karad distance, location, road map and direction

Chiplun is located in India at the longitude of 73.52 and latitude of 17.53. Karad is located in India at the longitude of 74.2 and latitude of 17.28 .

Distance between Chiplun and Karad

The total straight line distance between Chiplun and Karad is 77 KM (kilometers) and 800 meters. The miles based distance from Chiplun to Karad is 48.3 miles. This is a straight line distance and so most of the time the actual travel distance between Chiplun and Karad may be higher or vary due to curvature of the road .

The driving distance or the travel distance between Chiplun to Karad is 97 KM and 363 meters. The mile based, road distance between these two travel point is 60.5 miles.

Time Difference between Chiplun and Karad

The sun rise time difference or the actual time difference between Chiplun and Karad is 0 hours , 2 minutes and 43 seconds. Note: Chiplun and Karad time calculation is based on UTC time of the particular city. It may vary from country standard time , local time etc.

Chiplun To Karad travel time

Chiplun is located around 77 KM away from Karad so if you travel at the consistent speed of 50 KM per hour you can reach Karad in 1 hours and 47 minutes. Your Karad travel time may vary due to your bus speed, train speed or depending upon the vehicle you use.

Chiplun to Karad Bus

Bus timings from Chiplun to Karad is around 1 hours and 47 minutes when your bus maintains an average speed of sixty kilometer per hour over the course of your journey. The estimated travel time from Chiplun to Karad by bus may vary or it will take more time than the above mentioned time due to the road condition and different travel route. Travel time has been calculated based on crow fly distance so there may not be any road or bus connectivity also.

Bus fare from Chiplun to Karad

may be around Rs.73.

Midway point between Chiplun To Karad

Mid way point or halfway place is a center point between source and destination location. The mid way point between Chiplun and Karad is situated at the latitude of 17.404939369973 and the longitude of 73.859406088924. If you need refreshment you can stop around this midway place, after checking the safety,feasibility, etc.

Chiplun To Karad road map

Karad is located nearly East side to Chiplun. The bearing degree from Chiplun To Karad is 111 ° degree. The given East direction from Chiplun is only approximate. The given google map shows the direction in which the blue color line indicates road connectivity to Karad . In the travel map towards Karad you may find en route hotels, tourist spots, picnic spots, petrol pumps and various religious places. The given google map is not comfortable to view all the places as per your expectation then to view street maps, local places see our detailed map here.

Chiplun To Karad driving direction

The following diriving direction guides you to reach Karad from Chiplun. Our straight line distance may vary from google distance.

Travel Distance from Chiplun

The onward journey distance may vary from downward distance due to one way traffic road. This website gives the travel information and distance for all the cities in the globe. For example if you have any queries like what is the distance between Chiplun and Karad ? and How far is Chiplun from Karad?. Driving distance between Chiplun and Karad. Chiplun to Karad distance by road. Distance between Chiplun and Karad is 74 KM / 46.6 miles. distance between Chiplun and Karad by road. It will answer those queires aslo. Some popular travel routes and their links are given here :-

Travelers and visitors are welcome to write more travel information about Chiplun and Karad.

Name : Email :


Full-Text Search：
《Earthquake Resistant Engineering and Retrofitting》 2016-02
Add to Favorite Get Latest Update

Arrangement Study of Energy Dissipation Analysis of Metal Dampers in a Large Hospital Frame Structure

Zhou Tong-ling;Zhao Jie;Wang Gui-xuan;Research and Development Center of Civil Engineering Technology,Dalian University;
In order to study the energy dissipation effect of metal dampers in the a large hospital frame structure,the nonlinear time history analysis is carried out by SAP2000 for the hospital structure with metal dampers and without metal dampers. Moreover,the structures with metal dampers in every other floors and every floors are respectively analyzed,the dissipation effect is compared. The results show that metal dampers have good dissipation capacity under 8 degree rare earthquake,and the top displacement and story drift of the structure obviously decrease,also the damping effect of every other floor is better than every floors. Then the change rule of acceleration response spectra with period is compared and analyzed. The acceleration response spectra changes greatly in the short period,and the acceleration of energy dissipation structure is smaller than primary structure's,but the change is smaller in the long period and basically tends to be consistent. The research results provide reference for energy dissipation design of similar project.
【Fund】： 大连市科技计划项目(2014E13SF145)
【CateGory Index】： TU352.1
Download(CAJ format) Download(PDF format)


35 Questions to Ask When Outsourcing Software (Local/Offshore)

35 Questions to Ask When Outsourcing Software (Local/Offshore)

What is a software outsourcing company [SOC]?

Software development outsourcing is about hiring a team of developers (or just one developer) to take over the entire software project or its parts. Besides programming services may include consulting, training, testing, technical support or really anything related to software you need the partner to do for your company.

Benefits of outsourcing include cost savings, access to the talent pool, time savings and more.

The outsourcing company can be local, offshore, nearshore or hybrid (combination of local and offshore). Check here to find out about differences between them as well as advantages and/or drawbacks of each model.

There are 3 main reasons for engaging in outsourcing:

  • Hire an outsourcing team to work on a specific project. In this case, the SOC has to provide all resources starting with Project Managers and ending with developers and QA/documentation.
  • Extend your current team with developers from the outsourcing team to work on a project or for a period of time. This is also called a Staff Augmentation model. With this model, the hiring company will be the one who is managing the work of developers, even if they are offsite.
  • Hire SOC to maintain existing applications. Some companies want to free their own people to work on more important business activities and outsource legacy software and support.

Depending on the reason for hiring the questions you need to ask them before committing may vary. I will comment separately when any questions are unique to specific cases.

1. What kinds of companies do you typically do work with?

I’ll ask about the size of companies with whom they previously worked and the kinds of projects they did in the past. If I am a startup I need to know if they had experience working with startups.

2. Does SOC have experience with projects similar to mine?

When hiring I am hiring for expertise. And expertise does not mean only programming skills, I want developers to be knowledgeable in my domain or domain close to mine.

If I am developing an online ordering system, I want SOC with experience in payments and various requirements for accepting credit cards online like PCI compliance. And I need the developers that worked in my domain to be on my project because SOC may have hundreds of developers and not all of them are equal.

Furthermore, I expect a detailed answer to the question. If the answer is not full enough, I’ll ask follow-up questions like, “how long did the project take?” or “did you have any challenges implementing specific technology?”. If the example project was short or was done by a single developer, and mine requires a team for an extended period the SOC may not be the right choice.

3. Can you provide examples?

Like with any developer it’s not always possible to show the work they’ve done for all clients because of NDAs. But if the company was in business long enough, they should have some samples publicly available. What I am looking here is for a breadth of types of projects completed by SOC. But keep in mind, this does not mean that the people who worked on those projects will also work on mine.

4. Are you big enough to scale when need, but small enough to care about me?

There are a lot of outstanding developers in India. The problem is most of them work for big companies like Oracle.

When our company was looking for SOC our leadership knew that for best outsourcing companies in India our company would be a small fish. This means that SOC will provide the best talent to their biggest and most important customers and we get second and third tier programmers.

That’s why our leadership decided to go with the SOC in Sri Lanka which had development team bigger than ours but not 20 times bigger. So when needed the SOC could quickly add more resources, and they tried to provide their best developers because we were their biggest customer.

5. How much will it cost?

I was told many times that I shouldn’t look for a cheaper option, but rather look for a good fit. I agree with this assertion up to a point. In fact, cost savings are the primary reason to consider SOC at all.

And I don’t agree with the premise that I have to pay a premium for premium developers. Nobody can convince me that good programmer in Durham, NC is less capable than a good one in Silicon Valley, but the fact is that the latter will be more expensive.

Another example is hiring a home remodeling company. When I was planning to upgrade my kitchen, I immediately rejected the highest bidder and went with a more competitive option, both in quality and pay.

Anyway, if I am hiring SOC individuals to augment my team I am looking for hourly rates. If it’s a project, then I am expecting quotes on the entire project or different phases: consultation, prototype, development, and maintenance.

6. Which services are not covered under my contract?

If I am contracting for a project, I expect that main services like development, testing, and project management are covered. I may or may not care about documentation or deployment, but I need to know what I am paying for.

7. What if I’m not satisfied with the quality of the product?

If I never outsourced before or I never worked with this particular SOC I want to make sure that I have an exit plan. If for whatever reason the partnership didn’t work out, I want to know the fees associated with canceling the contract.

8. If your company makes a mistake how will that be dealt with?

Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes, but at the same time, nobody wants to deliver bad news. The last thing I want is SOC to hide their mistakes. I expect transparency and honesty.

If there is a problem I prefer to be notified immediately and the issue to be fixed as soon as possible. I need to make sure that there is a mechanism in place. I will ask for an example of things gone wrong and how they handled it.

And I want to know if I will be reimbursed in case if SOC is responsible for the error.

9. What makes your company unique compared to others?

Each SOC has a sales pitch they tell all customers so answer to this question cannot convince me to choose one SOC over another, but it gives me some idea if a SOC is a good fit for my company.

10. How long have you been in this business?

They used to say that no one ever got fired for choosing IBM. I am very conservative when choosing a business partner because there is money and opportunity is involved. It’s always best to outsource to an established, financially stable provider. I want to make sure that SOC will not disappear in the middle of the project.

11. Can I speak with some of your previous clients?

It’s good to know SOC’s client list. Who are their largest clients? How long their current client base has been working with SOC? What percentage of clients would refer to them?

As in any interview checking referrals is extremely important. I will contact former SOC clients and ask about the SOC’s strengths and problems. Specifically, I want to ask about areas that are critically important to the success of my company. I will definitely ask follow-up questions. In addition, I will check Facebook and Google reviews.

12. What is the minimum duration of the contract?

Naturally, SOCs prefer longer contracts as we all do. So the SOC may not agree to take a small project. If my project is too small, then my options may be limited to finding individual programmers instead of SOC.

13. How do you estimate the project duration?

The cost of the project is a product of duration and hourly rates. Longer the project takes – more I spend. So, it is possible that if more expensive SOC can do work faster, than the overall cost could be lower than with cheaper SOC working longer hours. Furthermore, time to market may be more important than the cost.

14. How many people will work on my account?

The number of people working on a project typically depends on the complexity of the project and less so on its duration. Nine women cannot deliver a baby in one month and similarly adding more people does not always speed up the work because some tasks cannot be parallelized.

15. What does the application development process look like?

I want to get a big picture of the process approach. Are you using Waterfall or Agile? If Agile, then is it Scrum or Kanban? Do you have CI/CD implemented for each project? Do you have staging, testing and production environments? Which performance indicators (if any) did they establish?

How do you ensure software quality? Do you use peer code reviews or pair programming? Do you develop applications using TDD (Test Driven Development) methodology? Do you have automated tests or do you test manually?

If I have an in-house developer, I want him to be engaged in this conversation.

16. What technologies are you specialized in?

I had an SOC reached out to me because they had a team of React developers was finishing their current project and they were looking for a next one. When I replied that I am only interested in .NET she said that they have a .NET team as well.

Most programmers know more than one technology but they normally very good in one main stack and know some about others. So, if I am hiring .NET developers I want to make sure that .NET is the main expertise of the development team, not secondary skill.

17. How do you find and hire developers?

After TopTal’s success, I often hear individual SOCs claiming they hire only the top 3% developers. This claim allows them to charge higher rates. I want to know how they decide if a developer is in the top 3% and not say in the top 15%.

Personally, I don’t believe in interviews that Microsoft used to conduct – asking a candidate to solve a puzzle. I’ve seen very little correlation between the ability to solve puzzles and building software useful for customers. The good thing is that with developers past performance normally indicates future performance (unlike stocks).

18. How often do you train your employees?

Best companies invest in their employees. If SOC is not spending on training, then they cannot claim that their developers are in the top 3% level. Or maybe they are not investing in training because employees do not stay with the company long enough?

19. Will I be able to interview developers?

If I am hiring SOC as an extension of my existing local team I want to be able to interview each developer and decide if he or she is a good fit for my company. The process is the same as if hiring local developers with additional requirements for communication skills. I will have a top developer in my local team to conduct technical interviews. And I will assess if they can fit well in our team.

20. Where are developers located?

Even if the company is technically located in the States the development team may be somewhere in Ukraine or Argentina. If I never worked with foreigners, I may need to weigh the pros and cons of working with offshore/remote developers.

This may be a viable solution if I am outsourcing the entire project especially if SOC provides a project manager on site or locally. This may not work if I want to add more resources for my team because existing local team members will have to work with remote developers.

Even outsourcing maintenance requires frequent contacts between 2 teams which may not go well mainly because of intrateam communication issues.

21. Are your developers fluent enough in English?

If my team is going to work with SOC developers directly I want to make sure that they speak English well. I want them to understand the local dialect as well.

22. Do your developers offer new ideas?

One fear with outsourcing contractors is they normally just do what you ask for. We usually depend on our employees to drive innovation. Ideal SOC will be the one that works as a partner, educates when needed, helps to choose proper technologies, advise and offer new ideas.

23. How do you try to deliver the product that will match our and market’s expectations?

This one is related to the question above. I want to know if the SOC will simply follow my directions or they will truly work on figuring out what we really need before starting working on implementation.

24. Will I own the source code?

I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about SOCs keeping the source code after finishing the project to themselves as a way to ensure getting maintenance gigs after project completion.

Ideally, I want to have the source code stored in the cloud source control platform like GitHub. Git is a distributed system, so I can keep a copy of the entire code locally on my pc.

This way I know that even if developers delete the project in the cloud, I can always restore it to another cloud from the local copy.

An additional advantage of using a source control system is that I can see how much code is being produced on a daily basis. Seeing daily changes in the cloud gives me confidence that SOC is making progress.

25. Will the same developers assigned at the beginning of the project be on the team till the end of it?

Some SOCs practice bait and switch tactic when they first show their top developers to get the contract. Once the customer agrees they switch top developers with juniors and customer pays a higher rate for inferior resources.

I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to me.

26. What is the turnover rate at your company?

I understand nobody works for the same company forever. But I am concerned with the possibility of losing a developer in the middle of the project and with the developer leaving important knowledge of the domain and the application gets lost as well.

If the turnover rate is higher than 10% it’s a red flag. I also want to make sure that the replacement was trained by the developer before he or she leaves.

27. Will they be happy to maintain my existing code?

One of the reasons to look for outsourcing is having someone to maintain legacy code while my main team can focus on new priorities.

When I was talking to one SOC and asked about resource retention she mentioned that if I give their developers exciting projects then developers will be happy to stay. I told her that projects I have are not exciting and she responded that may be the SOC is not a good fit and I may need to look for other options.

That’s actually was a good honest answer.

28. How much time would you need to scale up the team?

I want to make sure that when I needed 2-3, or even 20 developers the SOC can support me. While finding 20 developers is not easy, adding 2 more developers should not take more than a month. After all, the ability to scale up quickly was one of the primary reasons to consider SOC.

29. How do you communicate during the project?

If I am only communicating with the Project Manager (PM) how often will I get updates? I want to have demos every week or two. I also want to make sure that PM available for phone calls.

If my dev team is working directly with SOC developers I want to have single instant communication channel like Slack in addition to emails. I want to know the hours when developers available.

Ideally, I want at least 4 hours to overlap between my team and SOC. And if I am working with programmers directly, I want them to be able to access the Project Management/Sprint Planning tool my team is using.

30. Is PM dedicated for my project?

I should know if the PM (if there is one) shared between multiple projects or only working on mine. It is way more efficient when a person is committed to one project only.

Obviously, if the SOC team I am working with consists of 2 developers I can’t expect a dedicated PM, but if I am hiring a fairly big team then this is not an unreasonable expectation.

31. What security procedure do you have in place to protect my data?

SOC must have a list of security measures spelled out in the contract. Do they have a data recovery plan? What about a business continuity plan? Do they store data in the cloud or on-premise? What happens when an employee leaves the company? Is there a standard procedure to disable all accounts of the terminated employee?

32. How do you see my role in the project?

SOCs love engaged customers. When a customer is engaged the risk of project failure is less than with a less interested party. I understand this and I want to know what my obligations would be as a client.

How much time should I devote to working with PM/developers? Would I have to meet any deadlines? It’s great to know from the beginning what will my responsibilities be.

33. How often should I visit your employees?

If the project is long enough, I need to establish contacts with key personnel by visiting them in office. If developers are working offshore, then I should visit them at least when the project is initiated. Read here about the importance of visiting offshore teams.

34. Will you support during off hours?

The software is not only about writing code, testing it and deploying to production servers. Software tends to break at times least expected. Servers do not always heel themselves after reboot.

During the first couple of weeks after the software has been installed, there were will be multiple instances when programmer’s assistance is needed.

Or maybe I operate a 24-hour business and I need support during the night. I need to make sure that someone is always available on the SOC side and they can handle my needs.

35. Do you offer long-term support?

Similar to the question above I need to sign a long-term support contract. I wouldn’t work with any SOC that does not provide it.

I hope the list I put above will be helpful when you decide to go with the outsourcing company. I want to conclude this with one final point about the cost.

While cost is very important choosing SOC solely on the base of cost may backfire at the end. At the same time, I do not suggest that more expensive SOCs producing more quality code.

As with any contractor you have to interview several of them, get quotes, see samples of work, call references. After narrowing down the list, visit their offices and find a good match.

Good luck with your endeavor!

Image used: ter Burg, Sebastiaan “Wikimedia Hackathon 2013 – Day 3”. May 26, 2013. Online image. Flickr. Mar 8, 2019. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ter-burg/8852987486/

Alisher Abdukadirov

Alisher is an experienced developer and software development manager. He has a lot of experience managing offshore development teams.

Leave a Reply

9 − five =

Close Menu


June 21st, Aymara New Year

June 19, 2019

Credits: pagina siete Bolivia

2019 ??? Nooo, in Bolivia for the Aymara people this is the year 5527.

On 21 June, the Andean New Year is celebrated in South America's most indigenous country.

It is a ritual that goes on for thousands of years and still practiced nowadays by many people with ceremonies that take place in different places considered sacred for people belonging to the Aymara ethnic group. The new year count is made by adding 5000 years to the period since 1492, the beginning of the European invasion.

People will be gathering with Andean priests to receive the new sun with respect and devotion while making offerings to it and showing the value it has for them.  All together they will receive the first rays, the energies of the Tata Inti, the father Sun, in the palms of their hands so that everyone will feel the energy of a new cycle.

This is a powerful and growing moment.

Credit: Diario "La Razón"

June 21 is a special day in Bolivia, with a holiday in between, the country paralyzes public and private activities to celebrate the arrival of the "Aymara New Year" now considered the Amazonian Andean New Year, also known as the "Willakuti" or "Return of the Sun".

The "Willakuti" central event is centered in Tiwanaku, where the Puerta del Sol is located, a pre-Inca city with an elevation of almost 12750 ft about 70 km from La Paz.

Credits: Cultura Latina.at

The city of Tiwanaku, capital of a powerful pre-Hispanic empire that dominated a large area of the southern Andes and beyond, reached its apogee between 500 and 900 AD. Its monumental remains testify to the cultural and political significance of this civilization, which is distinct from any of the other pre-Hispanic empires of the Americas. Since 2000 is listed in the UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Amazonian Andean New Year

The Andean Peoples, Amazonian, Guaranis, Kollas, Mapuches among other cultures, commemorate on this date the new year, celebrate means renewing a commitment to continue raising the ecosystems that coexist thanks to the benevolence of the Pachamama and the Inti Tata, those who are offered the sacred coca, and alcohol for the “Challa”, a ceremony of reciprocity that is based on the act of watering the land or other good with alcohol and symbolic elements.  as a symbol of reverence.

Credits: Noticias del Sur - Argentina

Amazonian Andean New Year  celebration is linked to an astronomical reference that is the solstice, source of energy and spiritual renewal, and is recorded as a natural phenomenon between June 20 and June 23 in the southern hemisphere and begins a new agricultural cycle, it is a luni-solar calendar, as it is governed by the phase of the Moon and the journey of the Earth around the Sun. From 22nd June the 13 months are counted, each of 28 days, counting 364 days of the new year, 21st June is the 365th day, which is dedicated exclusively to the New Year's Day and begins winter in the south of the planet Earth, being this day the one with the longest night and the shortest day.

Within the Andean calendar and the southern hemisphere, there are two solstices, the winter solstices, and the summer solstices. The celebration of the mara t'aqa corresponds to that of winter, where the height, the front and the movement of the sun condense their maximum expression and significance in the Andes and the southern hemisphere, the period of the juyphi-pacha, in which the frost when reaching its maximum expression.

Written by: Alex Brandino

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Take a Walk, Not a Pill

Mother Earth is a healer.

After conferring with other officials, King convinced the overnment to build a new facility in 1948, complete with running streams and a forest where soldiers received the healing power of nature in addition to their medical care.

For combat veterans today who may or may not exhibit visible injuries, immersing them in nature is being used as one of the most restorative therapies — far better than drugs and, in some cases, more effective than counseling.

Veterans aren’t the only ones who can benefit by reconnecting to the Earth. More people than ever say they’re experiencing a sense of unease and anxiety, especially with anything too far removed from modern life such as technology.

Our parents, grandparents and generations before us knew that nature, the essence of the living world and the wonders it holds, was essential for our physical, spiritual and emotional survival. And, with every high school graduating class, we move further and further away from embracing the very Earth we live and depend on.

And that’s sad because exposure to greenspace — open, undeveloped land with natural vegetation — leads to significant health benefits, including lower diastolic blood pressure, reduced levels of stress and decreases in Type 2 diabetes and mortality from all causes, especially those related to the heart. Other reported benefits included a lower risk of premature birth and increases in good self-reported health.

Even the U.S. National Park Service recognizes the benefits of nature by sponsoring the “Healthy Parks, Healthy People” movement, which encourages people to spend time in parks and public lands to create healthy societies.

One simple way to embrace the healing power of nature is to follow the example of children and go barefoot. This is called grounding, which is defined as placing your bare feet on the ground, whether it is dirt, grass, sand or unsealed, unpainted concrete (especially when humid or wet). It sounds “too easy,” but the simple pleasure of walking barefoot can be a powerful health-promoting activity.

Because the Earth carries an electron-rich, negative charge, walking barefoot outside provides a powerful and abundant supply of antioxidant electrons that zap free radicals, lower inflammation and heal your body in numerous ways.

Think about the last time you walked barefoot on the beach and how great that felt. There was a reason it made you feel so good. When you ground to the electron-enriched Earth, an improved balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system occurs.

Free radical stress from exposure to pollution, cigarettes, pesticides, processed foods and electromagnetic radiation, just to name a few, continually depletes your body of electrons. The Earth, however, is always electron-rich and can serve as a powerful and abundant supply of antioxidant free radical-busting electrons, provided you make an effort to stay grounded.

When grounding is restored, many people report significant improvement in a wide range of ailments, including improved sleep and mood, a reduction in anxiety, chronic pain, muscle stiffness, soreness, and inflammation.

So, when you’re overwhelmed and stressed, head outside, shed those shoes and socks, take a walk, hug a tree and come back down to Earth.